Carroll Softball Faces Tough Teams in Upcoming Games
By Zach Warner
The Southlake Journal
Carroll softball coach Tim Stuewe is just glad tournament play doesn't determine his team's postseason fate.
Although the Lady Dragons have displayed flashes of brilliance offensively, impressive ability and commendable effort, inconsistency has been the name of the game of late. Carroll had an up-and-down showing at last weekend's McKinney Tournament, winning big and losing big to go 3-1-1.
That followed a 2-2 showing at the tournament the Lady Dragons hosted the previous weekend, as Carroll now stands at 9-7-1 for the season.
However, Carroll now prepares to face a couple teams, before and after spring break, that were a thorn in the team's side during recent tournament play. Stuewe is anxious to see how well his players perform when the teams meet a second time.
"They're going to be rematches, and I'm really looking forward to how we respond," said Stuewe, whose team travels to play a Plano West team that defeated Carroll by an 8-0 final in the McKinney Tournament. "Plano West really thumped us over the weekend, and I don't think it's a matter of them being that much better than us, but we just didn't have a very good game.
"We need to see how we play this time around," he said. "That's the way it is in district, having a chance to see teams a second time around."
After playing Plano West at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Carroll then hosts Wylie at 7 p.m. March 19. Wylie defeated the Lady Dragons by an 8-7 final at the Bryan-College Station Tournament two weekends ago, as Carroll battled back from an 8-0 deficit to fall just short with runners on base.
"I'm really interested in how we'll approach those games," Stuewe said.
Stuewe can't discredit his team's offensive explosiveness that reveals itself from time to time. He would just like to see it on a regular basis.
Carroll demolished Duncanville by a 19-0 final on March 3, then posted wins of 6-0, 7-2 and 5-3 over Abilene, Nevada Community and Forney, respectively, at the McKinney Tournament. But they also were shut out by Plano West and had to settle for a 2-2 tie with Midland.
"We're on the brink," Stuewe said. "We have a few more pieces of the puzzle, a few little things to work through. If we can get that taken care of, then I think we can play with just about any team.
"We have the ball players to get it done, we just have to get on the same page and play at the same level."
Carroll is also scheduled to face Keller, the team that knocked the Lady Dragons out of the playoffs last season, at 4 p.m. Friday.
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